The Dune novels are like radioactive decay. Each book is half as good as the one that precedes it. I made it to God Emperor and then quit. Wish I’d stopped at the first.
Each book is less than the last. I would recommend not to read past book 4. They really get bad past that book. I was warned by a clerk at the used bookstore when I first read the series. Hopefully you’ll listen to me, I didn’t listen to him. And I can never get that time back, and brain bleach just doesn’t work.
I was a bookseller during the peak of booktok and I can confirm that the covers were a continual issue for us. Every few months there would be a company wide email making sure we hadn’t misplaced erotica in the teen section, and it is genuinely impossible to tell at a glance whether you are looking at a teen romance or smut with this style of illustration.
I would have women on the daily walking up to me and asking for the smuttiest stuff we have and then confirming that they have already read everything I could list for them. We had young teenage girls coming in to buy Haunting Adeline, and we would have to talk to their parents in the store to make sure they knew what they were about to allow their kid to buy. One mother said I know, she will find it somewhere else if I don’t let her buy it here, and gave in.
I never once had an awkward interaction with any man buying even the most pornographic manga, but weekly would have multiple women asking for spicy books openly and invasively. If the male customers were speaking to me the way the female customers were, with the same frequency, I think I would’ve quit.
I think it is specifically this cutesy cover design language, and the childish terminology such as ‘booktok’ and ‘spicy’, that give this genre innocence and plausible deniability when it comes to accusations of readers, or the content of the books themselves, being inappropriate. It made it difficult as a bookseller, and difficult as a human, to reconcile the ethics of the whole situation. It’s legitimate and fair for any adult woman to read the books she enjoys reading, but once you start to speak openly in public and on the internet about spicy or smutty content in books, just know that you have a 14 year old girl tagging along with you to the bookstore now, and 18 year old me has to talk to her parents about it.
Needless to say you hit the nail on the head with this piece.
the part you list about daughters coming in to Haunting Adeleine doesn't feel new to me. I was an avid reader when I was young and I'm no spring chicken now. I was reading stephen king and everyone was reading flowers in the attic in fourth grade. VC andrews was the hot thing to read and our parents didn't care. I remember regarding covers my mother only ever intervened on one book called "The very last virgin of hobeck high" - because of the title. It wasn't spicy in the slightest and instead was a story about a teen facing those kinds of pressures.
and holy hell, whats been going on with Warrior Cats for a long time makes me ashamed to not have read them and knowing what kids were reading.
The covers of many of these books did not offer very much of a warning. (I do take issue with the covers above, but I can tell you exactly where some of these covers are modelled on and its not tiktok, its modelled on capitalizing on the success of fanfiction on places like episode interactive and maintaining the market who originally grew up on those kinds of stories as they pass into adult hood).
I'm not saying that there isn't a conversation to be had (we can always improve as a society), or that how we experience the delivery hasn't ridden the flutters of the future into the present, but from personal experience, many of these things are not a new phenomena in the slightest; they just look different in certain ways because the future always looks a little different than the past.
You are unbelievably the only voice of reason I've heard in the community on this topic. It doesn't need to be so sensitive... I'm not coming after you for loving smut. I just don't want it marketed to children, okay? Why are you mad about that 💀 the quality of books are just not the same anymore either... Authors are having to sell a new fetish instead of a new world, theme, idea, conflict, etc. I've dnf-ed so many books because you actually just sound like a horny 14 year old trying to be relevant with tiktok lingo. I thought this was supposed to be an old timey fantasy realm 😭
So much respect to you for putting this out there. Every single word of this was so true to me. The lack of ability to grasp nuance is so incredibly confusing given the community, as you pointed out. This is what we do! Readers don’t only understand nuance they SEEK IT. We seek character, relationship, and plot development.
I absolutely read spicy books. I also read tons of other stuff. If I told another grown up that all I ever watched on tv was “too hot to handle” people would think I was stupid and vapid. Why is this different?
I could not agree more with your argument here: “The quality of the writing has lowered and the books have a higher density of sex scenes.” My husband and I (avid readers, writers, who met on BookTok…but like, a different side 😂) are constantly talking about the state of writing. To your point, yes it has always existed but my argument for the past 3-4 years is while it has always existed, it hasn’t always been the point of fiction to the degree that it is now. YA is no longer safe for their intended audience.
As someone well versed in addiction, that’s what I contribute a large portion of the responses to. It DOES change the chemical composition of your brain. It DOES have an affect on your body and mind. It is its own kind of addiction.
I feel so seen reading this. I've shared the same perspective for a while but received such insane backlash for voicing even the smallest bit of concern when I was on bookstagram. People who want to analyze this concept are called "anti-feminist" or "prude" almost immediately just for wanting to take a deeper look at why the romance genre has become so shallow and superficial.
They can get pretty aggressive when you point a mirror back at them. For a group of “readers” the community is surprisingly unwilling to analyze anything they consume lol
I think aggressive commentary is not isolated to MAGA. Go in the comment section in Robert Reich’s substack (you can’t get more polar opposite than that) and make the slightest critique and you will be verbally flogged, drawn and quartered.
I was always a reader, I started with medieval romance novels and Harry Potter. I’ve also been writing ever since. I was not on BookTok and once I discovered, I thought it was about books. Well… it still is, don’t get me wrong, but it seems like sex is more important than anything on it. I’m not asking a Pulitzer Prize, just some basic foundation for the book to make sense. My first dark romance left me a bit shocked but also curious. Two years later and 200 books read, I am in a reading slump that I never experienced before, I feel so tired of overused tropes and trigger warnings (remember when books didn’t even have that?). I’m currently curating my experience and recommendations outside of bestsellers and into a little Discord group and Reddit. Also found a really nice YouTuber who is amazing in her honest reviews. Anyway, thank you for sharing this, made me feel less alone here.
I'm curious why trigger warnings are such a bad thing?
Its extremely painful for someone with (c)PTSD to randomly stumble upon a trigger, and something like 10% of the population has had (c)PTSD at some point in their lives.
Are a few plot points being "spoiled" that much more important than someone's week being ruined by a flashback?
Oh, I sorry, I probably misspoke here! I don’t mean that the trigger warnings spoils the book. I believe the use of it is valid and necessary, the question I made was regarding the absence of it on literature before recently. It makes me wonder if the list of trigger warnings is a natural and welcome evolution in the industry to create a more safer experience for the reader, or if we’re venture more and more into dark themes to feed this new audience that wants it, that we are ending up with the need to have these type of warnings! Why did we not have it back then? Did we have those dark romance books without the warnings? Or is this a new genre that requires this signaling to protect the reader?
That is an excellent point. It's perhaps a parallel "trauma porn" arms race alongside the sexual one, having more to do with being talked about for being the most dark rather than genuinely wanting to discuss these real issues.
I recently read some older books without these warnings and felt pretty unhappy about it. I am not interested in reading rape scenes, especially in any spicy or unexamined way, or to unnecessary further a protagonists growth. My kid ran into a book in a little free library and when the book was done and I was like, oh the title looks good I want to read that, the teen then listed a long list of things that were in it that I should get into a mindset for, knowing my reading capacity is limited. We wrote the warnings I wish had been there into the front of the book.
I pretty much have left older books alone because authors of that age don't seem to know or care what they have (especially ridiculous age gaps) and I'm not into stumbling on unpleasant surprises. I've only regained my capacity to read physical books and part of that upward build is to not become frustrated or upset by the content and I think, despite some more elitist readers/writers tendencies to judge anyone who doesn't follow their idea of what real reading is, thats ok. Reading is reading.
Looking at even shakespeare, or much older stories, I think this is a very long history of darkness, but in the past we didn't seem to care who we dumped it on or instead we went to great lengths to take that choice away from people. At some point we decided it was a good thing to give people choice by being upfront about whats in books, and after decades of being a reader, which some unfortunate interruptions I'm heavily inclined to agree.
I really liked your post. But what makes me always perplexed is that,just for the cartoonish cover, icebreaker became the symbol of “Booktok is just full of porn addicted”. I’ve read Hannah Grace’s book, and I’m a reader that doesn’t focus on romance or erotica. I find that her books often have a positive and healthy perspective on sex life. Use of protections is always mentioned and discussed betwenn the couple. The protagonist of Icebreaker goes to therapy, and we see her speaking about her issues and insecurities. In general, the main protagonists always have some family/confidence or other type of issue that they analize in their pov. I found the men pov always respctfull, sexy but in more of a funny and comic tone. So I’m just sad that one of the few romance books I read are associated with this discourse 🥲
Also, as much as problematic it is that these books end up in the kids section due to the covers, I always thought that it was a way to make more comfortable reading these books in public or bring them around. I personally feel uncomfortable with the half naked man showing covers.
I read icebreaker and there was a scene where some girls were talking about a male character accidentally making someone pregnant and they said, and I quote: “it’s not his fault, he doesn’t know a lot about pregnancy” and he was a 24 year old athlete having tons of sex lol also I unfortunately felt like the only thing they discussed or talked about in that book was sex. All the time. So I think is a fair example to use, sadly
The books don't need to have naked man covers, but it's not a choice between that or cartoons. There's a wide world of possibilities that don't resemble children's books.
This! Like, we could keep cartoon art covers and just make them clearly romance and that would help. Ali Hazlewood covers are like that and I don’t think anyone would put them in the kid section on accident. Jasmine Guillory too!
This, but also I personally really love Ali Hazelwood. I like that her characters are relatable and the plot is well constructed. her level of spice is tame compared to a lot of other authors but I appreciate that. It feels like a true romance novel.
I also don’t love when some of these novels romanticise bad behaviour/morals from either party (borderline abusive). It makes me worry that young women will read it and think that it’s acceptable to treat others or be treated in a negative way.
I used to think the same thing about Ali. But her last 3 books have been sheer erotica with no substance and unfortunately she is right up there with everyone else now :(
Post of aesthetic, historical or cultural significance.
You are 1000% right, particularly about the fact that booktok girls are not, in fact, shamed like men are shamed. I know women like this irl and it's jarring to hear someone openly talking about their porn (and it is porn) tastes, not only with other women but with/in front of men. This is such normalised behaviour online that it has actually breached containment and people now think it's okay to do this in public.
We are living in a culture that does not respect boundaries around sex, we call this 'sex positive', but it's no wonder actual predators are able to blend in seamlessly, they look normal because everyone else is so weird.
I can’t deal with it anymore, why are we romanticising infantile men? ITS SO VERY ANNOYING, because I also think the worst is that it’s SO NOT an actual portrayal of true intimacy in all its imperfection, once again setting unrealistic expectations, creating an illusion on many things inside and outside of the bedroom. Character growth? Plot? Where is it? It sets unrealistic standards ON BOTH SIDES, for appearance and personality, never mentioning the flaws of anyone, aside from having a tragic past. I would say this whole dumbing down of books, has come from the anti-intellectualism which is perpetuated by social media (of course at the forefront of it it’s TikTok)
1. Thank you so much for opening up to us about your experience as a young woman / the impact these books and stories had on your character arc so to speak.
2. As a mother to a toddler (a young woman) I am so grateful you wrote this publication. I am an indie author and feel like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole wondering "why am I the only one seeing this?" "why is everyone fighting to keep the illogical emotional connection / argument to spice etc. instead of conceding that maybe there is a bit of logic to both sides?"
MAYBE when I open instagram I shouldn't see the works c*ck and p&ssy in a quote advertising a book? My husband read it and also said "is this ... a fourteen year old?"
3. I saw Rebecca Ross' Q and A for new adult fantasy and was almost in tears at how she had to make a separate story to address the spice questions. Every single person (almost) was only concerned about the spice. How much. How juicy. How descriptive? What do they do together? *I know you didn't love letters of enchantment series but I just could not swallow how disappointed I felt by the masses only asking about THAT out of all the story building and lore and writing process.*
4. While everyone is so angry and punching their fists at the sky about any piece of nuance brought to the table, they don't realize that they are still being profited off of by the publishing companies. Women's pleasure is now "popular" and trending but it's not for the benefit of us. It's still for the benefit of capitalistic / masculine demand. Wake up!
5. When I brought up that 90% of women who were murdered by their sig others or ex's, that they were stalked first, I lost so many followers. All I said was, I can't read stalker romances because I know this fact and can't unknow it! Who would argue with that? I don't care how cute you make it.
6. Ok! I guess I better go write my own book now lol thank you
I've heard of this little book called Pride and Prejudice. No sex scenes or sex talk of any kind, but it's managed to grab a relatively good sized audience. (Myself included. Best romance novel of all time <3)
Thank you for the NUANCE!! This article has been everything I have been thinking/feeling and have not been able to articulate it quite like this. So much respect after reading all this. Seriosuly. I would love to see ratings on the back of books now—they do it with manga and some bookstores even have the spicy manga wrapped in plastic. There would be no reason to not start doing this with novels.
Solid commentary, and well-said. I’d feel pretty upset if my son or daughter got caught up reading a bunch of this stuff that appears disguised as a children’s book. They need time to be kids first.
I love a good basic romance book from time to time but I agree that when I read I want some plot, development, and connection to the characters. A spicy book from time to time is no big deal but it’s certainly not all I want to read and begins to bore me since they have such a formulaic layout. Very well said post, I appreciate it!
TBF, romance novels have been formulaic for a long time. That’s why they sell as one of the top categories of fiction; it’s predictable escapist comfort.
A weird quirk of our time is that this woke, intensive and robust social analytic lens is used mercilessly against everyone except those who primarily wield it: if we’re being honest, mostly white women. My actions are meticulously dissected and picked apart until evidence for a guilty verdict is uncovered, but when you make even a basic attempt to turn the lens around on the person wielding it (by, for instance, saying ‘hey the covers of these books are a little weird) you are met with outrage. It is maddening and can only result in someone who is unaware of their own shortcomings and is thus doomed to a life devoid of self awareness.
Everyone should read Dune, lots of spice in that one
I think you mean “Everyone SHOULD read DUNE, lots of SPICE in THAT one.”
Different kind of spice, actual spice, not "spicy"...
The spiciest
NERDS😆😆😆
The first two books were great. Not sure I finished the third though
The Dune novels are like radioactive decay. Each book is half as good as the one that precedes it. I made it to God Emperor and then quit. Wish I’d stopped at the first.
This is hilarious. I slogged through the whole thing, but I totally agree.
Each book is less than the last. I would recommend not to read past book 4. They really get bad past that book. I was warned by a clerk at the used bookstore when I first read the series. Hopefully you’ll listen to me, I didn’t listen to him. And I can never get that time back, and brain bleach just doesn’t work.
I was a bookseller during the peak of booktok and I can confirm that the covers were a continual issue for us. Every few months there would be a company wide email making sure we hadn’t misplaced erotica in the teen section, and it is genuinely impossible to tell at a glance whether you are looking at a teen romance or smut with this style of illustration.
I would have women on the daily walking up to me and asking for the smuttiest stuff we have and then confirming that they have already read everything I could list for them. We had young teenage girls coming in to buy Haunting Adeline, and we would have to talk to their parents in the store to make sure they knew what they were about to allow their kid to buy. One mother said I know, she will find it somewhere else if I don’t let her buy it here, and gave in.
I never once had an awkward interaction with any man buying even the most pornographic manga, but weekly would have multiple women asking for spicy books openly and invasively. If the male customers were speaking to me the way the female customers were, with the same frequency, I think I would’ve quit.
I think it is specifically this cutesy cover design language, and the childish terminology such as ‘booktok’ and ‘spicy’, that give this genre innocence and plausible deniability when it comes to accusations of readers, or the content of the books themselves, being inappropriate. It made it difficult as a bookseller, and difficult as a human, to reconcile the ethics of the whole situation. It’s legitimate and fair for any adult woman to read the books she enjoys reading, but once you start to speak openly in public and on the internet about spicy or smutty content in books, just know that you have a 14 year old girl tagging along with you to the bookstore now, and 18 year old me has to talk to her parents about it.
Needless to say you hit the nail on the head with this piece.
the part you list about daughters coming in to Haunting Adeleine doesn't feel new to me. I was an avid reader when I was young and I'm no spring chicken now. I was reading stephen king and everyone was reading flowers in the attic in fourth grade. VC andrews was the hot thing to read and our parents didn't care. I remember regarding covers my mother only ever intervened on one book called "The very last virgin of hobeck high" - because of the title. It wasn't spicy in the slightest and instead was a story about a teen facing those kinds of pressures.
and holy hell, whats been going on with Warrior Cats for a long time makes me ashamed to not have read them and knowing what kids were reading.
The covers of many of these books did not offer very much of a warning. (I do take issue with the covers above, but I can tell you exactly where some of these covers are modelled on and its not tiktok, its modelled on capitalizing on the success of fanfiction on places like episode interactive and maintaining the market who originally grew up on those kinds of stories as they pass into adult hood).
I'm not saying that there isn't a conversation to be had (we can always improve as a society), or that how we experience the delivery hasn't ridden the flutters of the future into the present, but from personal experience, many of these things are not a new phenomena in the slightest; they just look different in certain ways because the future always looks a little different than the past.
You are unbelievably the only voice of reason I've heard in the community on this topic. It doesn't need to be so sensitive... I'm not coming after you for loving smut. I just don't want it marketed to children, okay? Why are you mad about that 💀 the quality of books are just not the same anymore either... Authors are having to sell a new fetish instead of a new world, theme, idea, conflict, etc. I've dnf-ed so many books because you actually just sound like a horny 14 year old trying to be relevant with tiktok lingo. I thought this was supposed to be an old timey fantasy realm 😭
So much respect to you for putting this out there. Every single word of this was so true to me. The lack of ability to grasp nuance is so incredibly confusing given the community, as you pointed out. This is what we do! Readers don’t only understand nuance they SEEK IT. We seek character, relationship, and plot development.
I absolutely read spicy books. I also read tons of other stuff. If I told another grown up that all I ever watched on tv was “too hot to handle” people would think I was stupid and vapid. Why is this different?
Again thank you.
I could not agree more with your argument here: “The quality of the writing has lowered and the books have a higher density of sex scenes.” My husband and I (avid readers, writers, who met on BookTok…but like, a different side 😂) are constantly talking about the state of writing. To your point, yes it has always existed but my argument for the past 3-4 years is while it has always existed, it hasn’t always been the point of fiction to the degree that it is now. YA is no longer safe for their intended audience.
As someone well versed in addiction, that’s what I contribute a large portion of the responses to. It DOES change the chemical composition of your brain. It DOES have an affect on your body and mind. It is its own kind of addiction.
Such a good, appreciated conversation!
Completely agree with you! Also, I love that you met your husband on BookTok (PG version😂) 🤍
Hahaha I always have to clarify 😅 thank you!!
I feel so seen reading this. I've shared the same perspective for a while but received such insane backlash for voicing even the smallest bit of concern when I was on bookstagram. People who want to analyze this concept are called "anti-feminist" or "prude" almost immediately just for wanting to take a deeper look at why the romance genre has become so shallow and superficial.
They can get pretty aggressive when you point a mirror back at them. For a group of “readers” the community is surprisingly unwilling to analyze anything they consume lol
It sounds from your descriptions here much more like a fan community than a reader community.
i’ve noticed a lot of MAGA women are attracted to the erotica/shallow romance genre.. maybe that’s why the readership is more aggressive
I think aggressive commentary is not isolated to MAGA. Go in the comment section in Robert Reich’s substack (you can’t get more polar opposite than that) and make the slightest critique and you will be verbally flogged, drawn and quartered.
I was always a reader, I started with medieval romance novels and Harry Potter. I’ve also been writing ever since. I was not on BookTok and once I discovered, I thought it was about books. Well… it still is, don’t get me wrong, but it seems like sex is more important than anything on it. I’m not asking a Pulitzer Prize, just some basic foundation for the book to make sense. My first dark romance left me a bit shocked but also curious. Two years later and 200 books read, I am in a reading slump that I never experienced before, I feel so tired of overused tropes and trigger warnings (remember when books didn’t even have that?). I’m currently curating my experience and recommendations outside of bestsellers and into a little Discord group and Reddit. Also found a really nice YouTuber who is amazing in her honest reviews. Anyway, thank you for sharing this, made me feel less alone here.
I'm curious why trigger warnings are such a bad thing?
Its extremely painful for someone with (c)PTSD to randomly stumble upon a trigger, and something like 10% of the population has had (c)PTSD at some point in their lives.
Are a few plot points being "spoiled" that much more important than someone's week being ruined by a flashback?
Oh, I sorry, I probably misspoke here! I don’t mean that the trigger warnings spoils the book. I believe the use of it is valid and necessary, the question I made was regarding the absence of it on literature before recently. It makes me wonder if the list of trigger warnings is a natural and welcome evolution in the industry to create a more safer experience for the reader, or if we’re venture more and more into dark themes to feed this new audience that wants it, that we are ending up with the need to have these type of warnings! Why did we not have it back then? Did we have those dark romance books without the warnings? Or is this a new genre that requires this signaling to protect the reader?
Ah I understand now.
That is an excellent point. It's perhaps a parallel "trauma porn" arms race alongside the sexual one, having more to do with being talked about for being the most dark rather than genuinely wanting to discuss these real issues.
I recently read some older books without these warnings and felt pretty unhappy about it. I am not interested in reading rape scenes, especially in any spicy or unexamined way, or to unnecessary further a protagonists growth. My kid ran into a book in a little free library and when the book was done and I was like, oh the title looks good I want to read that, the teen then listed a long list of things that were in it that I should get into a mindset for, knowing my reading capacity is limited. We wrote the warnings I wish had been there into the front of the book.
I pretty much have left older books alone because authors of that age don't seem to know or care what they have (especially ridiculous age gaps) and I'm not into stumbling on unpleasant surprises. I've only regained my capacity to read physical books and part of that upward build is to not become frustrated or upset by the content and I think, despite some more elitist readers/writers tendencies to judge anyone who doesn't follow their idea of what real reading is, thats ok. Reading is reading.
Looking at even shakespeare, or much older stories, I think this is a very long history of darkness, but in the past we didn't seem to care who we dumped it on or instead we went to great lengths to take that choice away from people. At some point we decided it was a good thing to give people choice by being upfront about whats in books, and after decades of being a reader, which some unfortunate interruptions I'm heavily inclined to agree.
I really liked your post. But what makes me always perplexed is that,just for the cartoonish cover, icebreaker became the symbol of “Booktok is just full of porn addicted”. I’ve read Hannah Grace’s book, and I’m a reader that doesn’t focus on romance or erotica. I find that her books often have a positive and healthy perspective on sex life. Use of protections is always mentioned and discussed betwenn the couple. The protagonist of Icebreaker goes to therapy, and we see her speaking about her issues and insecurities. In general, the main protagonists always have some family/confidence or other type of issue that they analize in their pov. I found the men pov always respctfull, sexy but in more of a funny and comic tone. So I’m just sad that one of the few romance books I read are associated with this discourse 🥲
Also, as much as problematic it is that these books end up in the kids section due to the covers, I always thought that it was a way to make more comfortable reading these books in public or bring them around. I personally feel uncomfortable with the half naked man showing covers.
I read icebreaker and there was a scene where some girls were talking about a male character accidentally making someone pregnant and they said, and I quote: “it’s not his fault, he doesn’t know a lot about pregnancy” and he was a 24 year old athlete having tons of sex lol also I unfortunately felt like the only thing they discussed or talked about in that book was sex. All the time. So I think is a fair example to use, sadly
The books don't need to have naked man covers, but it's not a choice between that or cartoons. There's a wide world of possibilities that don't resemble children's books.
This! Like, we could keep cartoon art covers and just make them clearly romance and that would help. Ali Hazlewood covers are like that and I don’t think anyone would put them in the kid section on accident. Jasmine Guillory too!
This, but also I personally really love Ali Hazelwood. I like that her characters are relatable and the plot is well constructed. her level of spice is tame compared to a lot of other authors but I appreciate that. It feels like a true romance novel.
I also don’t love when some of these novels romanticise bad behaviour/morals from either party (borderline abusive). It makes me worry that young women will read it and think that it’s acceptable to treat others or be treated in a negative way.
I used to think the same thing about Ali. But her last 3 books have been sheer erotica with no substance and unfortunately she is right up there with everyone else now :(
I loved Ali Hazelwood until I read deep end...yuck
Have not read it, and I am a little worried to now 😂
Alix E Harrow is another good, low-spice author you should check out!
Post of aesthetic, historical or cultural significance.
You are 1000% right, particularly about the fact that booktok girls are not, in fact, shamed like men are shamed. I know women like this irl and it's jarring to hear someone openly talking about their porn (and it is porn) tastes, not only with other women but with/in front of men. This is such normalised behaviour online that it has actually breached containment and people now think it's okay to do this in public.
We are living in a culture that does not respect boundaries around sex, we call this 'sex positive', but it's no wonder actual predators are able to blend in seamlessly, they look normal because everyone else is so weird.
I can’t deal with it anymore, why are we romanticising infantile men? ITS SO VERY ANNOYING, because I also think the worst is that it’s SO NOT an actual portrayal of true intimacy in all its imperfection, once again setting unrealistic expectations, creating an illusion on many things inside and outside of the bedroom. Character growth? Plot? Where is it? It sets unrealistic standards ON BOTH SIDES, for appearance and personality, never mentioning the flaws of anyone, aside from having a tragic past. I would say this whole dumbing down of books, has come from the anti-intellectualism which is perpetuated by social media (of course at the forefront of it it’s TikTok)
1. Thank you so much for opening up to us about your experience as a young woman / the impact these books and stories had on your character arc so to speak.
2. As a mother to a toddler (a young woman) I am so grateful you wrote this publication. I am an indie author and feel like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole wondering "why am I the only one seeing this?" "why is everyone fighting to keep the illogical emotional connection / argument to spice etc. instead of conceding that maybe there is a bit of logic to both sides?"
MAYBE when I open instagram I shouldn't see the works c*ck and p&ssy in a quote advertising a book? My husband read it and also said "is this ... a fourteen year old?"
3. I saw Rebecca Ross' Q and A for new adult fantasy and was almost in tears at how she had to make a separate story to address the spice questions. Every single person (almost) was only concerned about the spice. How much. How juicy. How descriptive? What do they do together? *I know you didn't love letters of enchantment series but I just could not swallow how disappointed I felt by the masses only asking about THAT out of all the story building and lore and writing process.*
4. While everyone is so angry and punching their fists at the sky about any piece of nuance brought to the table, they don't realize that they are still being profited off of by the publishing companies. Women's pleasure is now "popular" and trending but it's not for the benefit of us. It's still for the benefit of capitalistic / masculine demand. Wake up!
5. When I brought up that 90% of women who were murdered by their sig others or ex's, that they were stalked first, I lost so many followers. All I said was, I can't read stalker romances because I know this fact and can't unknow it! Who would argue with that? I don't care how cute you make it.
6. Ok! I guess I better go write my own book now lol thank you
I've heard of this little book called Pride and Prejudice. No sex scenes or sex talk of any kind, but it's managed to grab a relatively good sized audience. (Myself included. Best romance novel of all time <3)
Best romance book ever. Full stop.
Thank you for the NUANCE!! This article has been everything I have been thinking/feeling and have not been able to articulate it quite like this. So much respect after reading all this. Seriosuly. I would love to see ratings on the back of books now—they do it with manga and some bookstores even have the spicy manga wrapped in plastic. There would be no reason to not start doing this with novels.
Solid commentary, and well-said. I’d feel pretty upset if my son or daughter got caught up reading a bunch of this stuff that appears disguised as a children’s book. They need time to be kids first.
I love a good basic romance book from time to time but I agree that when I read I want some plot, development, and connection to the characters. A spicy book from time to time is no big deal but it’s certainly not all I want to read and begins to bore me since they have such a formulaic layout. Very well said post, I appreciate it!
TBF, romance novels have been formulaic for a long time. That’s why they sell as one of the top categories of fiction; it’s predictable escapist comfort.
A weird quirk of our time is that this woke, intensive and robust social analytic lens is used mercilessly against everyone except those who primarily wield it: if we’re being honest, mostly white women. My actions are meticulously dissected and picked apart until evidence for a guilty verdict is uncovered, but when you make even a basic attempt to turn the lens around on the person wielding it (by, for instance, saying ‘hey the covers of these books are a little weird) you are met with outrage. It is maddening and can only result in someone who is unaware of their own shortcomings and is thus doomed to a life devoid of self awareness.
It's both refreshing and infuriating when they outright say "We can be into this kind of thing, but you can't because [oppression Olympics]."